Holders for sticks of pasty material



Dec. 15, 1970. A R. GRusKA HOLDERS FOR STICKS OF PASTY MATERIAL Filed June s. 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 8 i w 2W K I lilllllilll l U 1.. l Y, Y .f\ A M IM d A 8 lll' m ...M l. Z al: 1w .:u v 4 V ,if

Dec. 15, 1970 R. GRUSKA HOLDERS FOR STICKS 0F PASTY MATERIAL Filed June 3, 1968 FIGA 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGB 264 27A FIGS United States Patent() Int. Cl. Aisd 40/06 U.S. Cl. 401-78 7 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A holder for a stick of pasty material such as cosmetics, make-up and the like having a pair of relatively rotatable coaxial sleeves and tongue means extending across the lslot in the inner sleeve adjacent an end of the slot, a

symmetrical outer sleeve and a symmetrical stick support to facilitate automatic assembly.

This invention relates to holders for housing sticks of pasty materials such as rouges, pomades, cosmetics, pharmaceutical or veterinary products and the like, of the type comprising two co-axial sleeves which can turn one relatively to the other and a stick support or godet for supporting a stick which is movable in the inner sleeve and which comprises a lug extending through a slot in the inner sleeve and also engaged in a slot in the outer sleeve, one of these two slots being longitudinal and the other helicoidal, the whole being closed by a removable cover.

With a View to reducing the price of manufacture of such holders one is led, to achieve this, to assembly by means of automatic machines litted with hoppers in each of which one disposes randomly a large batch of one of the constituent elements of the holders.

It is then necessary to ensure the functioning of these machines in the best possible manner; which is an aim of the present invention. But, at least one of the slots of the inner sleeve opens at one of its ends so that one can put the stick support in position in this sleeve and slightly narrow said end of the inner sleeve to fit on to it the outer sleeve. Because of this, in a batch of such sleeves at random, it happens that certain of them catch together in pairs, top-to-bottom, by means of said slots, which interferes with the process of automatically feeding the components in the steps of assembly. One of the objects of the invention is, therefore, to give to said inner sleeves a structure suitable for preventing this unwanted coupling together of the components. i

To this end, according to the invention, the end of the slot in the inner sleeve which is ultimately destined to be open is temporarily closed by at least one transverse tongue forming a temporary obstacle, the tongue being removed under the effect of the force exerted by the lugs of the stick support when the latter is being mounted in the sleeve.

From one aspect the present invention consists in a holder for a stick.

From another aspect the present invention consists in a method of making a holder.

In one particular construction the tongue is at a distance from the associated end of the slot which it closes substantially equal to the diameter of the lug of the stick support. Thanks to this measure the lug is readily guided into the end of the slot when it comes into contact with the tongue so that it can push against this latter without di'iculty.

In one Vembodiment the aforementioned obstacle is constituted by a lug or tongue extending part way from one of the sides of the slot in the direction of the other side. while in another embodiment the said temporary ice obstacle is constituted by a tongue in the form of a frangible strip joining the two sides of the slot.

Further, in holders of the kind in question, in order to prevent the outer sleeve being able to turn on the inner sleeve, due to vibrations, which would risk bringing the end of the stick into contact with the bottom of the cover, against which it would be undesirably deformed, it is arranged for the lower end of the outer sleeve to be reduced and to bear resiliently against a corresponding bearing surface of the inner sleeve.

It will be appreciated that in these conditions during the assembly of the article, one must take care to introduce the outer sleeve onto the inner sleeve in the correct sense so that it is the reduced end of the outer sleeve which comes into contact with aforementioned bearing surface. This condition obviously constitutes an additional complication and a limitation on the correct feed of the components in view of their assembly in an automatic machine.

This is why, always with a View to assisting the automatic feed of the components, according to another characteristic of the invention, the other end of the outer sleeve is reduced in the same manner, so that the two ends of the sleeve are identical and that one can in consequence assemble this sleeve either end rst (it mattering not which) onto the inner sleeve.

In one advantageous embodiment each reduced end of the outer sleeve is provided with slits which confer greater exibility.

Finally, still to the same end, the stick support for a stick is given a shape which is symmetrical in relation to a transverse plane perpendicular to the middle of its length so that one can assemble said stick support in one sense or the other, it mattering not which.

The invention will be better understood by reading the following description and the examination of the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of non-limitative example several embodiments of a holder for sticks of pasty material improved in accordance with the invention. In these figures:

FIG. l represents, in longitudinal section, the complete assembled holder.

FIG. 2 shows in elevation the inner sleeve alone.

FIG. 3 is a transverse section of the inner sleeve along the line III III of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 represents in longitudinal section, to a larger scale, the outer sleeve alone, and

FIGS. 5 to 9 also show in elevation various forms of tongues for temporarily closing the end of the slot in the inner sleeve.

The holder for sticks of pasty material such as rouges, pomades, cosmetics, pharmaceutical or veterinary materials or the like, shown in FIG. l, comprises in a conventional manner a stick support or godet 1 which carries the stick of pasty material 2 which is mounted for longitudinal sliding movement in an inner sleeve 3. To this end the stick support 1 has projecting from its outer cylindrical surface two diametrically oppossed cylindrical lugs, like shown at S, which can slide into two longitudinal slots 7, 8 respectively, formed in the cylindrical Wall of the sleeve 3.

On the inner sleeve 3 an outer sleeve 11 can turn. It is retained axially by two shoulders 12 and 13 on the inner sleeve. In the inner face of the cylindrical wall of the outer sleeve 11 are formed two diametrically opposed helicoidal slots 15, 16 (see particularly FIG. 4) in which are engaged the ends of the lugs such as 5 of the sliding stick support 1.

On the outer sleeve 11 is tted by force a metallic reinforcing tube 19 which presents an end 21 largely opened, as indicated at 22, for the passage of the stick 2, the opening 22 being covered with a conventional cap 3 which, for clarity of representation, has not been illustrated.

In spite of the resilience of the sleeves which are of plastic material in order to enable the stick support to be put in position in the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve on the inner sleeve it is in practice essential for at least one of the two longitudinal slots 7, 8 in the inner sleeve to open at one end. As a result, for the assembly of holders in an automatic machine comprising hoppers into each of which one tips a batch of each of the components, it can happen that two inner sleeves wrongly assemble themselves top-to-bottom by means of their longitudinal open slots, an occurrence which obviously causes trouble in the process of feeding the components. In order to overcome this difficulty, in the embodiment illustrated, the two opposite sides of the slot S are joined by a little guard tongue 2S (see particularly FIGS. 2 and 3) of the weak section and also of small width, so as to be able to yield and/or break when, during the assembly of the holder, the associated lug 5 of the support enters said slot. This tongue 2S is disposed at a certain distance from the end of the slot, so that the lug 5 can already fully engage said slot before coming into contact with the breakable tongue 25, in a manner that the assembly can be effected in good circumstances.

In the embodiment illustrated, one end of the tongue is, furtherfore, thinner than the other end as can be clearly seen in FIG. 2, this facilitating breakage of said tongue due to the presence of one end preferential for the first break of the weaker side.

The presence of the tongue 2S prevents two sleeves 3 from assembling themselves top-to-bottom by their mutual engagement in the open slots.

In a modification, shown in FIG. 5, the two ends of the tongue 25A are reduced and form two breakage points level with the sides of the slot 8, as indicated by the two short broken lines.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the obstacle for temporary closure of the slot 8 is constituted by a tongue or lug 26 which extends from one of the sides of the slot in the direction of the other side which it almost touches. FIG. 7 shows a modification which the lug 27 extends from the other side of the slot, while, in the embodiment of FIG. 8, two separate lugs 26A and 27A extend, respectively, each from one of the two sides of the slot in the direction of the other side so as to meet to form the temporary obstacle in question. For reasons of convenience in moulding it can be attractive to form the lugs or tongues as a bar breakable at its middle as shown for example in FIG. 9 where the bar after breakage at its middle gives riSe to tWo barbs 26A, 27A.

Further, so that under the effect of vibration the two sleeves should not risk being turned one relatively to the other while the holder is closed, this with a view to avoiding the end of the stick 2 coming into contact with the bottom of the cover, the end of the outer sleeve 11 which is disposed alongside the operating knob 28 formed on the inner sleeve 3 is, in a known manner reduced, as shown at 31 in FIG. 4, so as to have a certain resilience and bear resiliently against a corresponding bearing surface 35 (FIG. 2) on the knob 28.

Still with a view to facilitating assembly of the holders in automatic machines the two ends of the outer sleeve 11 have been given exactly the same shape, this allowing said sleeve to be assembled on to the inner sleeve 3 in one sense or the other it not mattering which. The other end of the outer sleeve 11 then presents, as shown in FIG. 4, a reduced part 31A which is identical with the reduced part 31.

So as to enable one also to assemble the stick support for the stick either in one sense or in the other sense, it mattering not which, it has been given a shape which is symmetrical in relation to a transverse geometric plane perpendicular to the middle of its length. In the example illustrated the inner cylindrical surface of the stick support present two annular ribs 36, 37 for retaining the stick of pasty material and its cylindrical outer surface has two terminal grooves 38, 39 in to one of which fits a shaped cap 41 forming a sheath which comes off before the stick is used. The base of the button 28 has an axial opening enabling a stick to be cast inside the holder in the mould constituted by the cap 41 and the stick support 1.

I claim:

1. In a holder for a stick of pasty material, said holder comprising coaxial cylindrical inner and outer sleeves rotatable with respect to each other, a support member for supporting the stick, said support member being movable axially within the inner sleeve and having a lug extending through a slot defined by said inner sleeve and into a slot defined by said outer sleeve, one of said slots being longitudinal and the other being helicoidal, the slot in said inner sleeve extending to, and opening at one end of said inner sleeve, the inner sleeve prior to assembly having a slot guard means comprising deformable tongue means intermediate the ends of the slot, the said slot being of substantially the same width on both sides of said tongue means to non-deformably receive said lug, said tongue means being closely adjacent said one end of said slot, and projecting across said slot at least to such an extent as to prevent an edge portion of a like inner sleeve from entering said slot through said one end thereof, said deformable tongue means being deformed when said lug is inserted into the inner sleeve slot and is forced downwardly thereagainst and therepast into the main body of said slot.

2. A holder according to claim 1 in which the deformable tongue means comprises two members, one extending from each of the two sides of the slot toward each other.

3. An elongate cylindrical inner sleeve for a holder of a stick of pasty material of the kind comprising coaxial cylindrical inner and outer sleeves which are rotatable relatively to each other and a support member for supporting the stick, said support member being movable axially within the inner sleeve and having a lug extending through a slot in said inner sleeve and into a slot in said outer sleeve, one of said slots being longitudinal and the other of said `slots being helicoidal, the slot in said inner sleeve being clear-through and extending to the very end of one of the ends of said inner sleeve, and a yieldable tongue means connected to said inner sleeve and guardingly projecting across said inner sleeve slot adjacent said one end of said inner sleeve to resist passage of said lug from said one end into said inner sleeve slot, said yieldable tongue means defining an opening at said one end less than that which will permit self-assembly of said inner sleeve with a similarly shaped, slotted and guarded inner sleeve, said yieldable tongue means comprising a breakable bar which joins the two sides of the inner sleeve slot and which is broken when said lug is moved into said inner sleeve slot.

4. A holder according to claim 3 in which the outer sleeve is symmetrical in relation to a transverse median plane, its ends being of reduced thickness such that either of the reduced ends can co-operate with an adjacent friction surface fast With the inner sleeve.

5. A holder according to claim 3 in which the support member is symmetrical in relation to a transverse median plane.

6. A holder according to claim 3 in which the yieldable tongue means is disposed a distance from said one end of said sleeve substantially equal to the diameter oli the lng on the support member, the lug on the support member being of circular shape.

7. In a method of making a holder for a stick of pasty material adapted to be covered when not in use of the kind comprising two elongate coaxial sleeves which can be rotated one relatively to the other and a support member for supporting the stick, the support being axially movable in the inner sleeve and having a lug extending through a slot in the inner sleeve and entering a slot in the outer sleeve, one of the slots being longitudinal and the other helicoidal, and in which said inner sleeve slot is substantially closed adjacent one end by a guard member connected to both sides of said slot, the free end of said guard member being spaced no farther from the side of the slot towards which it projects than a distance which will prevent self-assembly with a similarly guarded slot in another slotted inner sleeve of the same size and shape, the steps comprising seating the support member on said inner sleeve with said lug overlying the sleeve slot, and pushing said support member downwardly toward and past said guard member to break said guard member and to force said lug past said guard member and into the main body of said slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,840,230 6/1958 Lerner i. 401--78 2,858,937 11/1958 Hoffman 401-78 2,921,675 1/1960 Clark et a1 401-78 3,438,714 4/ 1969 Seaver 407--78 FOREIGN PATENTS 733,841 5/1966 Canada 401-78 LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner 

